Justin sat in the living room, his headphones covering his ears to allow himself some separation from the rest of the world for just a while. Glancing down at his watch he sat up, realizing that he had to be at the air port in 15 minutes. He jumped from his seat on the couch and cursed aloud when he was pulled back by the wire on his walk man. He threw off his headphones and frantically searched for his sandals. After finding them by the door, he grabbed his keys and left everyone around him in a state of confusion.
“Well, at least he’s gone now.” The occupants of the living room laughed at Joey’s comment and suddenly the air seemed lighter than it had all week long.
“I have a question.” Jamie announced, causing everyone to look in her direction. “Justin has his own house, right?” Her question was answered with a nod from the group. “Well then…if he doesn’t like me so much, why the hell does he stay here?” Her statement was made in all seriousness, but the bluntness of it and the sheer absurdity caused everyone to break out in a chorus of laughter.
“Good question James, but I honestly don’t know.” Chris patted her knee before propelling himself out of his chair and in the direction of the TV. Everyone pondered Jamie’s question for a moment before forgetting about it and turning their attention to the television. Jamie lost interest in the show they were watching, so she decided to go outside and make use of the basketball court she saw earlier. After finding a ball, she shot around for a while until she was tired and then she sat in the middle of the court and laid back to watch the clouds.
About twenty minutes later, there was a loud child-like screech and the sliding glass door was thrown to reveal a small boy about the age of seven that looked much too parallel to Justin. Jamie rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t dreaming, but when the little boy didn’t go away, she knew she was awake.
“Jon! Get back here…I won’t take you for ice cream later if you’re not good.” Jamie smiled as Justin chased who she assumed to be his little brother. A moment later, the rest of the group including two other women and another man, stepped outside. Jamie blinked hard and squinted her eyes to make sure what she was seeing was real.
“Oh my…” She stood from her spot on the court and wiped the gravel off her backside. She then dropped the basketball and quickly made her way over to the group.
“…I don’t know who will get tired first, Justin or Jon…” One of the women commented and Jamie closed her eyes against the sweet southern accent. She knew that voice as well as her own. That voice had helped her through many tough times, and she couldn’t believe that she was hearing it again.
She cautiously made her way up to the group and Chris was the first to spot her. “Oh…Lynn, Randy, Lisa…this is Jamie.” The group took their eyes off of Justin to glance at Jamie and a sharp intake of breath could be heard from each of the adults.
“James Rylee…what are you doing standing there, come give me a hug!” Lynn beckoned to Jamie and she quickly found herself in the woman’s embrace.
“Aunt Lynn…It’s so good to see you again.”
“Just look at you Jamie, you’ve grown so much! How’s your father dear? Is he here?” Lynn looked around but Jamie shook her head.
“No, he’s back in Tennessee. We’ve got a trailer in Ashland now, about an hour from Nashville…” While this whole exchange was going on, Joey, Chris, Lance and JC all looked on with shock written all over their faces.
“Um… I hate to interrupt this love fest, but how do you all know each other?” Chris pointed between Jamie and Lynn while everyone else awaited their answer.
“Well, you see…Jamie’s father was a good friend of Randy’s when they were growing up, and we all lived in Memphis for a while. I took care of Jamie for a long time there, when Allen had to work, and when she was feeling lonely.” Jamie had moved from Lynn’s embrace to Randy’s and then onto Lisa.
Just then Justin had walked up to the group and spotted Jamie hugging his father. The smile on his face faded quickly and was replaced with mix between bewilderment and perplexity.
“Hey everyone…what did I miss?” He approached warily, afraid of what was going on.
“Justin, did you know that I used to watch Jamie when she was younger? She and her dad lived next door to your dad’s old place and I would take care of her for her father.” Lynn wrapped her arm around Jamie’s shoulder and Jamie was just about ready to curl up and die. The look Justin shot her spoke volumes and she figured she should write out her will and testament soon.
“Um…I’m really sorry Aunt Lynn…I have to go call my dad I promised I’d get in touch with him tonight…I’ll catch up with you later.” She slipped form under Lynn’s arm and made a hasty retreat. Flying up the stairs, she didn’t stop until she was safely behind her hard wooden door. Jamie let out a deep sigh and sunk to the floor. This was going to be interesting.
A million thoughts ran through Justin’s mind as he watched Jamie leave. At first it was shock, but once the surprise of the situation faded, it was replaced with anger and its first cousin: Jealousy.
It wasn’t fair that she had a part of his family too. He could see by the look on his mother’s face that she cared deeply for this girl, and Justin couldn’t figure out why she fit so easily into his life. She had come down here, awoken so many emotions inside of Justin it left his head spinning, and no one else seemed to notice. She fit right in to their little world, it was almost as if she had always belonged there, and that scared Justin. He had set himself up to be alone, and then she comes along and turns everything inside out and upside down and it leaves Justin looking like the bad guy. He was trying so hard to fight off everything she was creating inside of him, but every time he saw her that wall crumbled a little more, and he was starting to resent that.
Justin glanced at the group around him and he sighed. Jon ran by and latched onto his father’s pant leg. Justin smiled and bent down to scoop up his little brother. He settled Jon on his right hip, and then grabbed Steven from Lisa and settled him on his left.
“I’m going to take these boys out for some ice cream. I’ll be back in about 15 minutes. Anyone else want anything?” He bounced slightly and Steven giggled.
“Actually, why don’t we all go with you? We can make in a group thing.” Lance suggested, wanting to break the tension in the group. Everyone agreed that it was a good idea and they all headed around front to get into the cars.
“Oh! we can't forget Jamie.” Justin grimaced, hoping that his mother would have forgotten. He set his brothers down and turned toward the house.
“I’ll get her.” His voice was a low grumble, and it set off warning bells for JC and the other guys. “Hey J, why don’t I get her…you can stay with Jon and…” his voice trailed off as Justin dismissed his offer with a wave of the hand. They all held their breaths as they watched him disappear inside the house.
“What was that all about?” Randy asked, not the only one to pick up on the hostility in the air.
“Well ah…Justin and Jamie don’t exactly get along…and well…This just might be World War III.” All heads turned simultaneously to look at the house and they waited with baited breath.
Justin took the stairs in two’s, making his way up to Jamie’s room. He knocked softly, his anger starting to subside with each passing second. When there wasn’t an answer, he pushed the door open a crack and peeked in. His heart melted as his eyes soaked up the sight in front of him.
Jamie was seated at the window seat, one leg tucked underneath her body while the other lay stretched in front of her. Her arms were crossed defiantly across her chest and tear stains were clearly visible on her cheeks. A slight sniffle and occasional hiccup could be heard in the silence of the room. Justin felt awful, knowing that he was the cause of her tears.
“James…” Although he spoke softly, she still jumped, startled by his presence. “Are you OK?” He asked, abandoning his post at the door and carefully crossing the room to sit next to her in a chair. She didn’t speak, or even acknowledge his presence when he sat down. She closed her eyes to rid herself of his image, but as soon as she did a picture of Justin was clear and sharp in her mind.
“What are you thinking James?” His soft caress of a voice gave her chills and she rubbed her arms for warmth. Turning her head slowly, she opened her eyes and looked at him. Concern filled his eyes, and Jamie felt herself wanting to spill her fears to this man, and the other half wanted to push him out of the chair.
“Don’t worry; I’m not going to take your family away, if that’s what you’re here to scream about.” Sarcasm was thick when she spoke, as were her words from having shed so many tears.
“That’s not what I asked.” Justin didn’t know why he was showing compassion to a person he had spent the better part of the week avoiding, but seeing her cry pulled at his heart strings. He was crude and packed an ego, but he wasn’t heartless.
“You really want to know what I’m thinking?” She sniffled and wiped at her eyes with a sleeve. Justin nodded his head and urged her to continue with his eyes. “I’m thinking that I don’t belong here. I am thinking that this isn’t what I want, and that I don’t have what it takes.” Justin closed his eyes at her confession. It would have been easier to deal if she had said that she was thinking he should go screw himself.
“I’m thinking that I fooled myself into believing that I could do this; but I’m really only here because this is where my father wants me to be. Justin, you’ve made it very clear to me that not everyone I’m going to meet is going to like me. And I’ve come to realize that I don’t want to deal with fake people in this business. This isn’t the life for me; I don’t have the passion for this like you all do. I want to go home…I just want to curl up in my safe, warm bed and never wake up.” He reached out to dry a fresh tear that had escaped but she angrily shoved his hand aside.
“James…” He started but she held up a hand to stop him.
“No…Justin, am I that bad? Can you not stand me at all? I mean, this whole time I’ve been here you’ve done nothing but make me feel unwelcome. I’m sorry, but I just can’t see what it is that I’ve done to make you hate me-“
“I don’t hate you James.” He stated, trying to calm her down.
“Then what the hell is it? Huh? You hardly say a word to me, and then you call me a slut! If that’s how y’all welcome people down here in Florida, then send me back to Tennessee!” Justin sighed and brought his hands to his head to try and wipe away the headache of frustration that was building. He was battling with everything inside himself on what to do. She had left it wide open for him to tell her how she made him feel, but that would be going against his recent vow.
“James…I-” He was about to try and explain his conduct without telling her anything she didn’t need to know, but she held up a hand and stopped him.
“No. Let me talk. Justin…when I first met you, You stirred up something so new inside me I swore I was going to pass out or overheat, which ever came first. There was something about you that made me want to figure you out. It screamed for me to figure you out, but you shut me down the moment you met me. I’ve been arguing with myself this whole time, trying to understand what it was about me that made you not like me. You, Justin Timberlake, are a very hard puzzle to put together, but you’ve made it more than clear that this is one game I’m not going to win. So before you start to explain what’s wrong with me, or pointing out my imperfections, please leave. I don’t want to hear your excuses, and I don’t think I could handle another stab in the heart. Please, just go with your family and have fun. Tell them I’m sick or something, but I just want you to leave me alone.” Justin stepped back and started to speak but she shook her head and ushered him to the door.
“Just go please. Leave before I say something I’ll really regret.” She shut the door behind him and sunk down to the floor. Justin stood outside, listening to her sobs and a new fit of anger arose inside of him, but this time it was directed more towards himself than Jamie.
Outside the group shuffled restlessly, awaiting the return of Justin and hopefully Jamie, all in one piece. Everyone had different worries scrolling through their head, but all of them were along the same lines. When they heard the slamming of the front door and saw Justin with no Jamie, their worry grew ten-fold.
“OK, where did you hide the body? If I start smelling anything funky coming from this house, I’m going straight to the police; I don’t care how much I love you.” Chris’ comment caused a few chuckles to be emitted, but Justin stood, stone faced.
“I didn’t kill her. She said she’s not feeling well, and she wants to stay in. Let’s go, it’s getting late.” Unanswered questions hung in the air like a heavy fog, but there was no one to answer them. Justin had scooped up Jon and Steven and they were already at his car door. The group exchanged one last look before heading to their separate vehicles and following Justin out of the drive way.
